The estate was the subject of a violent blood feud between the Murray clan and Drummond clan in the neighbourhood in the late 1400s. The Murrays of Ochtertyre had been engaged by their relative, the abbot of nearby Inchaffray Abbey, with collecting teinds from the Drummonds of Monzievaird. They did this with such brutality that the Drummonds were provoked into retaliation. They went to Ochtertyre and tried to evict the Murrays from their land. The conflict led to the Battle of Knock Mary, which the Murrays lost, and the subsequent Massacre of Monzievaird. The episode was captured by the historical novelist Walter Scott in his book, A Legend of Montrose.